Cereal Milk Cream Pie with Coconut
Cream Pie made with Milk flavored with toasted cornflakes and coconut
Ingredients
Cereal Milk
  • 100 gms unsweetened flaked coconut
  • 100gms cornflakes
  • 1qt whole milkafter soaking yields approx 2 1/2 cups Cereal Milk
Filling
  • 1/4cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1/4cup cornstarch
  • 1/2tsp kosher salt
  • 2 1/2cups cereal milksee recipe above
  • 1/2cup half-half or coconut milkyour choice
Assembling the Pie
  • 1pint heavy or whipping cream
  • 2tbsp sugaroptional
  • 1 baked pie shellcrumb, traditional, or coconut
Instructions
Cereal Milk
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toast cornflakes in oven just until you see the color deepen and start to smell the toasting aroma. Remove from heat and set aside to cool
  2. Toast coconut flakes in oven briefly. Let your nose be your guide. If you want a toasty coconut flavor go ahead and toast until light brown. Remove pan from heat and set coconut aside to cool. Separate out about 10 gms of the toastiest flakes to use as garnish.
  3. When cornflakes and coconut are room temperature pour them into a large pitcher. Cover with the quart of milk. Stir well, cover with plastic wrap and leave to soak at room temperature for 20 minutes.
  4. After twenty minutes, give the mixture another good stir. Using a fine strainer, pour the milk into a bowl. You may use the back of a ladle to push on the cornflake-coconut mixture to get more milk through the strainer but don’t push any of the “mush” through. You should have approximately 2 1/2 cups of “cereal milk”. If you have less then use additional milk or coconut milk to made up the difference.
  5. Now you’re ready to make the filling.
Filling
  1. Pour the prepared “cereal milk” along with the additional 1/2 cup milk or coconut milk into a blender along with the egg yolk and sugar. Cover and blend well.
  2. Add the cornstarch, and salt. Cover and again, blend well.
  3. Pour filling mixture into a heavy pot. I like using my Le Creuset because I find the enameled surface keeps the mixture from sticking. Bring to a boil over medium heat while stirring constantly with a silicon spatula. Allow the spatula to roam over the bottom of the pot to prevent sticking.
  4. As the mixture begins to thicken switch to a whisk. Let the mixture come to a full boil and adjust the heat so it continues to simmer for about 2 minutes. This will cook the starch enough to get rid of that pasty flavor.
  5. Turn off the heat and let the mixture simmer down.
To Assemble the Pie
  1. Pour the slightly cooled filling into the prepared pie shell. If you prefer (in an attempt to keep your crust crispy) you may pour the filling into a container and refrigerate it, pouring it into the pie shell at the last minute.
  2. Cool pie completely in refrigerator.
  3. Beat cream with or without sugar until barely stiff. Slather it over the cooled pie filling with abandon making swirls to your hearts content. Or you can use a piping bag with your favorite tip to decorate the top of the pie. Garnish the pie with the reserved toasted coconut flakes or with the shaved, salted and toasted coconut you can get at Trader Joe’s. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Recipe Notes